Hitachi Signs Deal to Supply Gas Technology

Hitachi Ltd. has signed a preliminary agreement to supply advanced equipment and technology for the Persian Gulf Bid Boland Gas Refinery project in the southern Khuzestan Province. The agreement includes the supply of compressors, vapor recovery units and gas storage equipment by the Japanese conglomerate, NIPNA, the official portal of the National Petrochemical Company, reported on Tuesday.

"We have signed a letter of intent with Hitachi for compressors and VRU systems," Mahmoud Aminnejad, chief executive officer of Bid Boland Gas Refining Company, was quoted as saying by NIPNA. He did not mention the agreement's value.

The refinery will have the capacity to process 48 million cubic meters per day of natural gas. The capacity roughly equals natural gas output from a standard phase of South Pars, Iran's mega gas field that is being developed in 24 phases.

It will also produce 1.5 million tons of ethane and 1.5 million tons of propane and butane annually upon completion.

The VRU unit collects either environmentally hazardous or valuable vapors inside the refining facilities to be reprocessed or destroyed.

Formerly known as Bid Boland 2 Refinery, the project started development over 15 years ago, but has since been hampered by managerial mishaps and financial constraints. The main Bid Boland facility became operational in 1970 as one of the largest Iranian gas refining facilities.

The refinery's output will be supplied as feedstock to several petrochemical facilities across a 1,200-kilometer pipeline—known as the West Ethylene Pipeline—that runs from Asalouyeh in the south all the way to West Azarbaijan Province in the northwest.

"The Persian Gulf Bid Boland project will be developed in three phases: the main refining facility, pipelines and storage tanks," Aminnejad said.